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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Report: Infiniti hybrid halo sports car due within the next three years

AutoCarUK reports that Infiniti has supposedly confirmed to be launching an all-new hybrid halo sports car within the next three years featuring tech from the Emerg-e and Essence concepts. That means that either a range-extending EV or plug-in hybrid setup will be available, allowing for a greater appeal to the intended audience.

Infiniti’s brand chief Andy Palmer spoke to AutoCarUK on the matter and really emphasized Infiniti’s interest to beeline it directly to the Gen Y-ers in their later 20s “with jsut a single child and with a high degree of environmental awareness.”

He even likened their new plan to being a “Tesla sports car option, but with more flexibility in terms of range.” That of course implies the range-extender setup, which in the Emerg-e concept utilized a Lotus-sourced 1.2L four-pot mated to two electric motors, for a grand total of 402hp. The other hybrid setup used Infiniti’s ubiquitous 3.7L VQ V6 paired with an electric motor, capable of an output of up to 592hp. And to those hoping for a hybridized version of the Nissan GT-R’s mill will be disappointed to know that Palmer said it was “not suitable for Infiniti.” In what fashion?

“There are all sorts of issues, especially around NVH [noise, vibration and harshness]. Our target customers are not people who compromise, so we need to ensure we deliver the best of everything,” Palmer said.

A halo car represents a bold move for the Japanese luxury performance automaker, though it is crucial to the brand’s future sales prospects. And as we all know, a halo car does provide quite a bit in the way of inspiration for a brand’s bread and butter models.